With the prevalence of human machine (vehicle) interface systems, from Ford's current “Sync System” to BMW's current “iDrive System”, OEM's have been consolidating many of the vehicle functions, HVAC control, navigation, integrated Bluetooth connectivity for using the driver's cellular phone hands free and/or for replication of the phone's display (applications), to radio control, into one user interface system. This applies not only to radio or so-called head units and centerstack displays but also to clusters or cluster information displays. At present, it is difficult to test the systems and achieve consistent results with there currently being no ability to have the testing fully automated.                U.S. Pat. No. 7,342,512 (Hedrick) discloses a flat panel display system for an aircraft display which includes a graphics rendering computer for rendering of anti-aliased graphical imaging data derived from aircraft sensors for full-field imaging on a cockpit display screen. A comparator processor independently generates, from the same sensor data, a selected subset or “points of light” of the display screen image and compares the points-of-light data to the data generated by the rendering computer for the same display screen pixel locations.        European Publication No. EP2040135 (Bliss) discloses a system for providing the automated electronic validation of industrial process code for an industrial control environment. Components of a system that facilitate such validation can include a monitoring component that tracks execution of code in an industrial control, and a storage component that receives a result of the execution of the code and stores the result in memory. Each line or logical element of code can be analyzed in this manner to determine a percentage of code that executes successfully and a percentage that does not, for instance.        European Publication No. EP2447844 (Conan et al.) discloses an HMI comprising: a data input for receiving input data comprising information to be indicated by the HMI; an indication device; a first processor connected to the data input for receiving the input data; a first program implementing a first predetermined procedure for producing indication data which unambiguously define the way an indication device of the HMI will indicate the information, wherein the first processor is adapted to perform the first program; a modification device adapted to modify the indication data for the purpose of validating the correct operation of the HMI and obtaining modified indication data; a second processor also connected to the data input for receiving the input data and is connected to an output of the first processor and to an output of the modification device for receiving the modified indication data.        
There is a need for a human-machine interface test system involving the automated audio input and output analysis and generation, visual verification of a display screen with graphics and texts display, including touch interface control and feedback, external device (smart phone, tablet, laptop, etc.) interface, as well as data logging for communication between the HMI device and the rest of the system, whether it be an automobile, airplane, truck, earth moving equipment, consumer electronic device, or some other machine or device, an automated test system is needed that will replace the testing and validation that previously had required human interaction.
There is a need for a human-machine interface test system that will enable automated testing and validation of the machine (e.g. -vehicle) interfaces which use audio, visual, touch, motion, wired (hard-buttons), wireless (e.g. -Bluetooth, Near Field Communication, WiFi, etc.), communication bus for input and output and which will provide more accurate and reliable results, increased repeatability and consistency in a controlled environment while significantly decreasing test time in order to make the system more robust and improve quality.
There is a need for a human-machine interface test system that will provide more accurate and reliable results from the conducted tests, increasing repeatability and consistency in a controlled environment, while significantly decreasing test time.